A Microsoft sign on the company’s headquarters campus in Redmond. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)
Microsoft began issuing layoff notices to thousands of employees Tuesday morning, two weeks after hinting at plans to streamline its workforce by cutting layers of management and focusing on more agile, high-performing teams.
Fewer than 3% of Microsoft’s global workforce is expected to be impacted by the latest round of cuts. That puts the number of layoffs around 6,000 people globally. That estimate is based on Microsoft’s latest official count of 228,000 employees as of June 2024, taking into account performance-based job cuts by the company earlier this year.
The company did not say whether efficiencies from AI are playing into the cuts.
“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement this morning.
Unlike the earlier layoffs this year, which were performance-based, the latest reductions are broader in scope — affecting a mix of levels, geographies, and teams across the company, including LinkedIn.
On Microsoft’s April 30 earnings call, CFO Amy Hood said the company was focused “on building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers.”
Meeting transcription space is a hot commodity for all productivity suites. Companies like ClickUp and Zoom have added transcription with an AI summary to take on another upstart in this vertical, including Read AI, Zoom’s assistant, Circleback, Granola, or Otter. The latest entrant in the race to build meeting transcription tools is Notion. The company is rolling out an […]
There’s still a week to go until Google I/O 2025 starts in earnest, but some of the developer conference’s biggest announcements are likely to arrive today in a one-off livestream called The Android Show: I/O Edition.
When the Android Show will happen and where to watch it
The Android Show takes place today, Tuesday, May 13th, at 10AM PT / 1PM ET. You can watch it live on the Android site or its YouTube channel, and we’ve embedded the livestream at the top of this page too.
Google’s main I/O keynotes tend to run for a couple of hours. Breaking Android out should mean this is a shorter show, though we don’t know for sure how long it’ll run.
A new look for Android
One thing we’re pretty confident is coming is the launch of Android’s new design language, Material 3 Expressive. That’s because Google already published (and deleted) a blog post revealing the new look, and still has the name online in an I/O session listing that calls it “the future of Google’s UX design.”
We haven’t seen Material 3 Expressive in Android 16’s beta releases yet, so the Android Show should be our first detailed look at how it works, and hopefully we’ll find out when it — and Android 16 — will arrive on our phones.
Android XR
Google first announced its Android-ified take on extended reality in December 2024, so we’re about due an update on it, especially with Samsung’s Project Moohan headset still slated to launch this year.
We got to try the tech out last year, so we know the basics of what to expect, but Google needs to prove that its concept is ready to become reality. Is a boatload of XR updates the reason it broke out the Android Show into its own event?
Don’t hold your breath for hardware
Google is inconsistent about announcing hardware at Google I/O, but an announcement today feels especially unlikely: we already have the Pixel 9A, it’s too early for the Pixel 10 phones, and by all accounts we’re never getting a Pixel Tablet 2.
Unless Google decides to drop a sneaky I/O tease of the Pixel 10 line — like it did for the Pixel 7 series, but hasn’t done since — the focus will probably be firmly on software.
When is the rest of Google I/O?
The bulk of Google I/O will take place next week, on May 20th and 21st, with Google’s main keynote set for 10AM PT / 1PM ET on May 20th. That’s right in the midst of Microsoft’s Build conference, which takes place from May 19th through May 22nd. With today all about Android, expect next week’s I/O event to put Gemini center-stage.
Microsoft revealed earlier this year that it was planning to stop supporting Office apps (Microsoft 365) on Windows 10 after the October 14th end of support cutoff. Now, Microsoft is performing a U-turn and has pledged to continue providing security updates for Office apps on Windows 10 for an additional three years.
“To help maintain security while you transition to Windows 11, Microsoft will continue providing security updates for Microsoft 365 Apps on Windows 10 for three years after Windows 10 reaches end of support,” says Microsoft in an updated support article published last week. “These updates will be delivered through the standard update channels, ending on October 10, 2028.”
Microsoft quietly announced this three-year extension in late April in a separate support article for IT admins, and it reiterates that the Microsoft 365 apps will “continue to function as before,” but that businesses should upgrade to Windows 11 “to avoid performance and reliability issues over time.”
This latest language is a lot different to the blog post Microsoft issued in January that warned businesses that Office apps would no longer be supported on Windows 10 later this year. “To use Microsoft 365 Applications on your device, you will need to upgrade to Windows 11,” said Microsoft at the time.
Microsoft has been pushing consumers and businesses to upgrade to Windows 11 ahead of the end of support for Windows 10 on October 14th. The company declared at CES earlier this year that 2025 would be “the year of the Windows 11 PC refresh,” despite Windows 11 adoption lagging behind Windows 10.
Microsoft has also been trying to convince Windows 10 users to buy a new PC with full-screen prompts over the past year. Consumers who don’t want to buy a new PC or upgrade to Windows 11 will also be able to purchase Extended Security Updates for the first time. You’ll have to pay $30 for an extra year of updates, while businesses will be able to purchase up to three years of extended updates.
Microsoft is redesigning the Start menu in Windows 11 this month with a new, wider design that finally lets you disable the recommended feed of files and apps. While the new Start menu looks different to what exists in Windows 11 today, this design refresh could have looked a lot different as Microsoft has now revealed in concept images.
In a blog post detailing the process of redesigning the Start menu, Microsoft has revealed five concept designs that could have radically overhauled how the menu works in Windows. One includes an even more rounded menu with widget-like functionality, and a separate For You section that lists Teams meetings, YouTube videos, and recently used files.
Another concept has the For You section separated at the side, with the main menu focused on categories of apps, and another prototype imagines a landing page as the Start menu, complete with shortcuts, apps, files, and separate sections to access your Android phone, personalized app lists, and creation tools. There’s even a start menu concept that appears to take up the entire vertical space of a screen, complete with separated sections that you seem to scroll vertically to access.
“Whiteboards, Figma frames, floor-to-ceiling paper prototypes—nothing was too scrappy,” says the Windows design team. “We sketched out a plethora of layouts, letting ourselves go wild and discover new things before applying the editorial pen.”
Microsoft tested its various Start menu designs with more than 300 Windows 11 fans and even co-creation calls with select fans. “We watched eye-tracking heat maps swirl, counted scroll wheels, and listened for ’oh!‘s of delight to know where we were hitting the mark,” says the design team.
The focus of the new Start menu has been on being able to easily see your apps, customizability, speed, and not overhauling it too much to “respect three decades of muscle memory.” The result is a new Start menu that’s bigger and more customizable than what exists today. Being able to remove the recommended feed will be a welcome addition for many, and the phone companion panel looks like it’s fully built into the Start menu to provide quick access to recent calls, messages, and phone files.
Microsoft is testing this new Start menu with Windows Insiders over the coming month, so expect to see it show up for all Windows 11 users in the coming months.
Rust is rewriting the rules of modern software development as the fastest-growing programming language. Its unmatched performance, memory safety without garbage collection, and concurrency capabilities are capturing developers’ attention worldwide. According to our data, with 2,267,000 developers using Rust in the last 12 months and 709,000 identifying it as a primary language, Rust’s footprint in the programming world is expanding rapidly. But what’s fueling its rise? Is it ready to replace C++?
This year’s State of Developer Ecosystem Survey reveals some exciting trends: Rust is the only language to set a new usage record, with one in six Go developers considering making the switch. Join us as we break down these insights, explore the future of Rust, and uncover why developers are embracing it to tackle today’s toughest software challenges.
What do you use Rust for?
In 2024, while personal and side projects remained a strong use case, developers increasingly recognized Rust’s appeal in career-oriented and enterprise solutions.
“The most significant change for me is the major increase in the use of Rust at work. Between 2021 and 2024, there was a 68.75% increase in the proportion of Rust developers using Rust commercially. As the number of Rust developers has itself increased, there is a compounding effect throughout the industry.
What’s especially interesting to me is how rapidly Rust has been adopted by industry. According to the JetBrains Developer Survey from 2018, only 2% of developers had used Rust at all during that year. 2018 was only 6 years ago.
We now have a situation where all Python and JavaScript developers are exposed to Rust through high-profile projects fueling their productivity, including uv and turbopack.
As Rust’s adoption in industry grows, it’s only logical that its usage would decrease for hobby projects. People don’t want to spend their free time using the same language they use for work.”
Tim McNamara, XAuthor of Rust in Action, founder of Accelerant.dev
How long have you been using Rust?
Rust’s community remained dynamic, with a steady influx of new developers contributing to its expansion. The balance between newcomers and experienced users is good for long-term ecosystem health.
“One of the things that made coming into Rust really nice was the friendly, helpful attitude of the experts. So let’s try and keep doing that as we transition to experts!”
Herbert Wolverson, XRust Trainer/Consultant at Ardan Labs
Coding experience among those who use Rust for work
Rust is rarely a developer’s first programming language, as most Rust professionals come from diverse coding backgrounds with substantial experience. The increase in seasoned developers adopting Rust reflected its reliability and robustness for complex systems, making it an attractive option for experienced professionals transitioning from other languages.
“Rust is getting easier – you can go ages without ever seeing a lifetime. I’d still not recommend it as a “first-ever” language for most – but I’d replace C and C++ first language classes with it.
Rust’s syntax is still a deterrent when you first run into it, but everyone I’ve talked to who has stuck with it past the “wow, this is different” phase has grown to like most of it.
One of Rust’s big strengths is that it’s multi-paradigm, so everyone can feel at home.”
Herbert Wolverson, XRust Trainer/Consultant at Ardan Labs
Top 10 industry segments among those who use Rust for work
Rust is thriving across several high-demand, innovation-driven sectors such as cloud computing, data analysis, AI, and embedded systems. Its adoption in areas requiring high performance and system reliability reflects the language’s strengths.
“Rust is the dark horse of the AI race. It isn’t the language chosen by researchers and data scientists, but it powers a lot of the infrastructure required to train ever-larger models.”
The data shows that Rust is rarely used in isolation, as the share of developers working exclusively with Rust dropped dramatically in 2024. Rust is becoming increasingly integrated into multi-language environments, with Python and JavaScript/TypeScript being the most common companions in 2024. Shell scripting languages and SQL have also seen consistent adoption alongside Rust as developers manage full-stack or infrastructure-heavy projects.
Interestingly, the use of low-level languages like C++ and C alongside Rust remained strong, likely due to its overlap in system-level programming domains. However, the increase in usage of Python and JavaScript/TypeScript suggested Rust’s growing role in broader application contexts beyond its traditional systems niche.
“When I’m teaching “Rust for C or C++ users”, I’ve never run into a successful “drop the years of C and rewrite it all” project; fork-lift upgrades suck, even if you have an amazing target language. Expect coexistence between the two for a very long time – “if it works, don’t break it” isn’t a bad mentality; porting battle-tested code isn’t as fruitful as making sure the new code arrives with better armor!”
Herbert Wolverson, XRust Trainer/Consultant at Ardan Labs
Which language did you migrate from?
A significant portion of developers are not directly replacing another programming language with Rust, which suggests that many are adopting it as a complementary technology rather than a strict alternative.
Among those who migrated from specific languages, C++ remained the most commonly replaced language in 2024, reflecting Rust’s positioning as a safer and more modern alternative to legacy system-level tools. Other notable mentions include Python, C, and Go, showing Rust’s ability to compete across multiple domains, from scripting to systems programming.
“Rust is more and more standing on its own. I wonder: how many people are approaching Rust as their first programming language?”
Which IDEs or editors do you use for Rust development?
The Rust community has a clear preference for modern, lightweight IDEs and editors, with Visual Studio Code holding its position as the top choice. This is consistent with its broad popularity across industries and its support for Rust through extensions like rust-analyzer.
Interestingly, RustRover, a JetBrains IDE purpose-built for Rust, debuted in 2024 and immediately gained traction within the community, reflecting a growing demand for specialized tools. Traditional options like Vim and IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate remain valuable for those who prefer customizable or full-featured IDEs.
By comparison, tools like Eclipse and Sublime Text see minimal adoption, emphasizing a shift to editors and IDEs that prioritize Rust-specific features.
“Features like lifetime visualization can be a lifesaver! Rust Rover was an immediate install for me because I was used to other JetBrains environments – but VS Code was a decent choice. Rust-analyzer is a pretty remarkable language server!”
Herbert Wolverson, XRust Trainer/Consultant at Ardan Labs
How does Rust code interact with the other parts of your code?
Rust’s strong interoperability features make it ideal for integrating with codebases written in other languages. The adoption of REST APIs leads as the most common method of integration, reflecting Rust’s use in web development and backend services. Language interoperability (via foreign functions) is also significant, signaling Rust’s frequent use alongside systems programming languages like C and C++.
Emerging technologies like WebAssembly/WASI show how Rust caters to modern, portable computing needs. Meanwhile, RPC also sees adoption, particularly for distributed systems requiring high-performance communication.
“Interoperability with other languages is of paramount importance for Rust adoption in the industry, especially on brownfield projects. Network, FFI, WASM – you can pick whatever fits your use case best, thus minimizing friction.”
Rust developers rely heavily on simple, practical debugging tools. A majority prefer using println! and dbg! macros, pointing to a lightweight, direct approach to tracing program behavior, especially during early development phases. UI debugging in IDEs is also widely used, reflecting the growing maturity of development tooling tailored to Rust.
More traditional console-based debuggers like gdb or lldb are likely to be used by those working on low-level systems projects. Notably, only 4% of respondents avoided debugging altogether, suggesting that most developers actively rely on strong debugging practices to handle Rust’s strict compile-time guarantees.
“I’m a println! debugger – I only fall back on the IDE debugger when I’m really stuck.”
Herbert Wolverson, XRust Trainer/Consultant at Ardan Labs
Which profiling tools do you use for Rust, if any?
Profiling remains an underutilized area in the Rust ecosystem, as 70% of developers report not using any profiling tools. Among those who do, IDE-bundled profilers are the most common, with developers showing a preference for tools that integrate tightly with development environments. Low-level profilers like perf, gprof, and Callgrind/Cachegrind see lower adoption, mostly being used by developers working on performance-critical systems projects.
“Profiling remains a pain point when using Rust daily. The user experience of traditional profiling tools is far from optimal, so it’s great to see IDEs stepping in to fill the gap.”
Rust is thriving in traditional domains like systems and network programming but is increasingly branching into web, desktop applications, and newer fields like embedded systems, machine learning, and blockchain.
“Each ecosystem cares about Rust for different reasons. Infrastructure savings and correctness help Rust in the Cloud-native world, portability boosts its usage for CLIs, while memory safety pushes its adoption for system programming.
It is truly a general-purpose programming language.”
Developers are drawn to Rust due to its blend of safety, performance, and the challenge of learning a modern language. Additionally, its increasing recognition as a vital language in the industry motivates career-focused adoption.
“I was burned out on a C++ project that just wouldn’t work right, and wanted to see what the cool kids were doing!”
Herbert Wolverson, XRust Trainer/Consultant at Ardan Labs
Which of the following sources did you use to learn Rust?
Due to Rust’s complexity, its official documentation is the cornerstone of learning the language, often complemented by books and other online resources. The absence of widely available formal or employer-provided training suggests that Rust’s adoption has been largely self-directed and community-driven. Read our How to Learn Rust blog post to help you get started.
“One thing is certain – there’s no shortage of learning resources to get started with Rust!
We don’t yet have the same abundance for intermediate and advanced topics, but things are improving every year.”
Rust’s evolution in 2024 demonstrates its growing role as a foundational language for modern software development. From its increasing adoption in professional environments to its use across diverse industries like systems programming, web development, and embedded systems, Rust is no longer just a systems language – it’s a versatile, community-driven force. Developers are embracing Rust for its safety, performance, and modern features, with its adoption driven by both newcomers and seasoned professionals.
While challenges such as tooling gaps and Rust’s steep learning curve remain, the language’s vibrant community and robust ecosystem continue to push it forward. Fueled by passionate developers and real-world success, Rust is shaping the future of software engineering and paving the way for safer, faster, and more scalable solutions. The future of Rust is bright, and its momentum shows no sign of slowing down.
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